The Unrepentant Tenant: Do tenants have a

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Sept. 8, 2022

Volume XXX, number 4

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Do tenants have a right to a habitable home? Yes, but…

by Mark Fearer

The most common problem for tenants by far is not getting their deposit back—but that subject will have to wait for another column. Probably the second biggest problem is getting repairs. What rights you have in getting repairs is very dependent on where you live. I realize Boulder Weekly readers can live anywhere, but tenants living in the city of Boulder have a much better chance of getting repairs because of the Boulder housing code, although few know that. More on that at the end.

Regardless of where they live in Colorado, tenants moving from other states may understandably think they have the right to withhold part or all of their rent if repairs aren’t made because of a legal doctrine called the implied warranty of habitability. Hold o on that course of action.

I have previously mentioned that the Boulder Tenants Union—and other pro-tenant organizations and state legislators—tried to pass warranty of habitability (WOH) legislation in Colorado in the 1980s. At that time, 42 other states had a WOH,